Beacons for localization and content delivery to wearable devices

Abstract

Example systems, devices, media, and methods are described for presenting a virtual experience using the display of an eyewear device in augmented reality. A content delivery application implements and controls the detecting of beacons broadcast from beacon transmitters deployed at fixed locations and determining the current eyewear location based on the detected beacons. The method includes retrieving content and presenting a virtual experience based on the retrieved content, the beacon data, and a user profile. The virtual experience includes playing audio messages, presenting text on the display, playing video segments on the display, and combinations thereof. In addition to wireless detection of beacons, the method includes scanning and decoding a beacon activation code positioned near the beacon transmitter to access a beacon.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of presenting a virtual experience using an eyewear device, the eyewear device comprising a camera, a memory storing a user profile, and a display, the method comprising:
 detecting a plurality of beacons, wherein each beacon is associated with an object and a fixed beacon transmitter location in a physical environment, and wherein each beacon comprises a unique identifier, beacon data, and a device certificate; 
 determining a current eyewear location relative to at least one of the fixed beacon transmitter locations based on a first detected beacon; 
 retrieving content associated with the first detected beacon; 
 curating a virtual experience based on the retrieved content, the beacon data, and the user profile, wherein the curated virtual experience comprises the retrieved content and a list of one or more of the objects, wherein the list is ordered according to relative proximity between the determined current eyewear location and the plurality of beacons; and 
 presenting the curated virtual experience on the display in accordance with the determined current eyewear location and as an overlay relative to the physical environment. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein retrieving content further comprises accessing one or more sources selected from the group consisting of the beacon data associated with the first detected beacon, internet search results associated with the beacon data, information stored in a content library, and local content stored in the memory. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein curating the virtual experience further comprises:
 maintaining the user profile comprising a primary interest, a playback setting, and one or more preferences; and 
 populating the virtual experience in accordance with the maintained user profile and the retrieved content. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein presenting the curated virtual experience comprises one or more operations selected from the group consisting of playing an audio message through a loudspeaker, presenting text on the display, and presenting a video segment on the display. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining whether a first device certificate associated with the first detected beacon satisfies a device certificate rule. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein detecting the plurality of beacons further comprises:
 capturing frames of video data within a field of view of the camera; and 
 decoding a beacon activation code based on the captured frames of video data. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first detected beacon is characterized by a first received signal strength, the method further comprising:
 detecting a subsequent beacon characterized by a subsequent received signal strength; 
 identifying a primary beacon based on a comparison of the received signal strengths; 
 retrieving subsequent content associated with the identified primary beacon; and 
 further curating the virtual experience based on the retrieved subsequent content. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , wherein determining the current eyewear location further comprises:
 capturing frames of motion data using an inertial measurement unit coupled to the eyewear device; 
 calculating the current eyewear location based on a multilateration algorithm and the received signal strengths; 
 determining a current eyewear orientation based on the frames of motion data; and 
 presenting the curated virtual experience in accordance with the calculated current eyewear location and the current eyewear orientation. 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 presenting the ordered list within a sector located at a sector position on the display; 
 receiving a selection from the ordered list; and 
 retrieving the content in accordance with the received selection. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 , wherein receiving the selection comprises one or more interactions selected from the group consisting of:
 (a) detecting a current fingertip location relative to a touchpad coupled to the eyewear device; 
 presenting a movable element at a current element position on the display in accordance with the detected current fingertip location; 
 identifying a first item on the ordered list that is nearest to the current element position; 
 detecting a tapping gesture relative to the touchpad; and 
 executing the selection relative to the first item in accordance with the detected tapping gesture; 
 (b) receiving human speech with a microphone coupled to the eyewear device; 
 converting the received speech into frames of audio data; identifying, with a voice recognition module, a first command based on the frames of audio data; and executing the selection based on the identified first command; and 
 (c) executing the selection in response to a predefined hand gesture detected within frames of video data captured by a camera coupled to the eyewear device. 
 
     
     
       11. A virtual experience presentation system, comprising:
 an eyewear device comprising a camera, a memory storing a user profile, a processor, and a display; 
 programming in the memory, wherein execution of the programming by the processor configures the eyewear device to perform functions, including functions to: 
 detect a plurality of beacons, wherein each beacon is associated with an object and a fixed beacon transmitter location in a physical environment, and wherein each beacon comprises a unique identifier, beacon data, and a device certificate; 
 determine a current eyewear location relative to at least one of the fixed beacon transmitter locations based on a first detected beacon; 
 retrieve content associated with the first detected beacon; 
 curate a virtual experience based on the retrieved content, the beacon data, and the user profile, wherein the curated virtual experience comprises the retrieved content and a list of one or more of the objects, wherein the list is ordered according to relative proximity between the determined current eyewear location and the plurality of beacons; and 
 present the curated virtual experience on the display in accordance with the determined current eyewear location and as an overlay relative to the physical environment. 
 
     
     
       12. The virtual experience presentation system of  claim 11 , wherein the function to retrieve content further comprises a function to access one or more sources selected from the group consisting of the beacon data associated with the first detected beacon, internet search results associated with the beacon data, information stored in a content library, and local content stored in the memory. 
     
     
       13. The virtual experience presentation system of  claim 11 , wherein the function to curate the virtual experience further comprises functions to:
 maintain the user profile comprising a primary interest, a playback setting, and one or more preferences; and 
 populate the virtual experience in accordance with the maintained user profile and the retrieved content. 
 
     
     
       14. The virtual experience presentation system of  claim 11 , wherein the function to detect the plurality of beacons further comprises functions to:
 capture frames of video data within a field of view of the camera; and 
 decode a beacon activation code based on the captured frames of video data. 
 
     
     
       15. The virtual experience presentation system of  claim 11 , wherein the first detected beacon is characterized by a first received signal strength, and wherein the system further comprises functions to:
 detect a subsequent beacon characterized by a subsequent received signal strength; 
 identify a primary beacon based on a comparison of the received signal strengths; 
 retrieve subsequent content associated with the identified primary beacon; and 
 further curate the virtual experience based on the retrieved subsequent content. 
 
     
     
       16. The virtual experience presentation system of  claim 15 , wherein the function to determine the current eyewear location further comprises functions to:
 capture frames of motion data using an inertial measurement unit coupled to the eyewear device; 
 calculate the current eyewear location based on a multilateration algorithm and the received signal strengths; 
 determine a current eyewear orientation based on the frames of motion data; and 
 present the curated virtual experience in accordance with the calculated current eyewear location and the current eyewear orientation. 
 
     
     
       17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program code which, when executed, is operative to cause an electronic processor to perform the steps of:
 detecting a beacon using an eyewear device comprising a processor, a memory storing a user profile, a camera, and a display; 
 detecting a plurality of beacons, wherein each beacon is associated with an object and a fixed beacon transmitter location in a physical environment, and wherein each beacon comprises a unique identifier, beacon data, and a device certificate; 
 determining a current eyewear location relative to at least one of the fixed beacon transmitter locations based on a first detected beacon; 
 retrieving content associated with the first detected beacon; 
 curating a virtual experience based on the retrieved content, the beacon data, and the user profile, wherein the curated virtual experience comprises the retrieved content and a list of one or more of the objects, wherein the list is ordered according to relative proximity between the determined current eyewear location and the plurality of beacons; and 
 presenting the curated virtual experience on the display in accordance with the determined current eyewear location and as an overlay relative to the physical environment. 
 
     
     
       18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program code of  claim 17 , wherein retrieving content further comprises accessing one or more sources selected from the group consisting of the beacon data associated with the first detected beacon, internet search results associated with the beacon data, information stored in a content library, and local content stored in the memory, and wherein curating the virtual experience further comprises:
 maintaining the user profile comprising a primary interest, a playback setting, and one or more preferences; and 
 populating the virtual experience in accordance with the maintained user profile and the retrieved content. 
 
     
     
       19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program code of  claim 17 , wherein the first detected beacon is characterized by a first received signal strength, and wherein the code is operative to cause the electronic processor to perform the additional steps of:
 detecting a subsequent beacon characterized by a subsequent received signal strength; 
 identifying a primary beacon based on a comparison of the received signal strengths; 
 retrieving subsequent content associated with the identified primary beacon; and 
 further curating the virtual experience based on the retrieved subsequent content. 
 
     
     
       20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program code of  claim 19 , wherein determining the current eyewear location further comprises:
 capturing frames of motion data using an inertial measurement unit coupled to the eyewear device; 
 calculating the current eyewear location based on a multilateration algorithm and the received signal strengths; 
 determining a current eyewear orientation based on the frames of motion data; and 
 presenting the curated virtual experience in accordance with the calculated current eyewear location and the current eyewear orientation.